Easy Solutions for the iMovie Not Exporting Issue

Although iMovie is a free video editing tool that comes with Mac with extensive features, it sometimes tends to throw random errors. It can be frustrating with constant issues, especially when it is related to exporting your edited projects. There can be many reasons for iMovie export failed errors, ranging from system to application failure.

Are you also frustrated with iMovie not exporting issues on your Mac? You have come to the right place. Read along the article for easy solutions to fix the issue with a step-by-step guide. In addition, we have also provided common causes that led to the iMovie export failed issue for better understanding.

Part 1: Common Causes for iMovie Export Failed Error on Mac

Before moving to the solution part to fix iMovie not exporting on your Mac, it is a good idea to understand the various reasons behind the issue. There can be many factors and reasons for your "iMovie export failed" problem due to system, application or human error. By understanding the cause of the issue, you will be able to apply the right method to resolve the problem.

Here are some of the common reasons that cause the iMovie not exporting issue:

Part 2: Best Fixes to Solve iMovie Not Exporting

If you are struggling to find solutions for "my iMovie won't export" trouble on your Mac, to help you fix the issue we have compiled a list of easy solutions. The methods can range from storage related to updating the application.

Here are the five best solutions to fix the iMovie export failed issue:

Solution 1: Check The Storage Space

The most likely cause of iMovie export failure is a lack of available storage on your Mac. If your Mac does not have sufficient space to save the export file, you will receive an iMovie error message stating "exporting failed." As a result, check your Mac storage, and if it is running out of space, try deleting or eliminating specific files.

Here are the steps to check storage space on your Mac to fix iMovie not exporting:

For macOS Ventura or later:

Step 1. First, select the “Apple menu logo” on the top left corner of the screen and click on the “System Settings” option.

Step 2. Next, select the “General” tab option from the sidebar and click on “Storage” on the right panel.

Step 3. Click on “All Volume” to view a summary of your storage usage, including the total capacity, used space, and available storage on your Mac.

For earlier macOS versions:

Step 1. Select the “Apple menu logo” on the top left corner and click on the “About This Mac” option.

Step 2. Next, click on the “Storage” tab at the top and click on the “Manage” button to view a complete breakdown of the storage space on your Mac.

Solution 2: Check The Export File Name

Another reason why my iMovie won't export could be any special characters in the project name. The project and file names cannot contain special characters such as "." at the beginning of names, "slash", "hyphen" or any other "wild card" character. As a result, ensure that the project and file names are proper so that they can be used by an iMovie output. If your project name contains any of the special characters indicated above, you should rename it to fix the exporting issue.

Solution 3: Reset NVRAM Or PRAM

You can potentially resolve the iMovie not exporting issue by resetting the NVRAM and PRAM on your Mac. Your Mac's Parameter Random Access Memory (PRAM) and Non-Volatile Random Access Memory (NVRAM) are the components that store data configurations like date and time, as well as mouse, volume, desktop, and other key control settings. By resetting your NVRAM or PRAM, you will clear some system preference settings that may be causing iMovie to malfunction and resolve the iMovie export failure.

Follow the below steps to fix the iMovie not exporting trouble by resetting NVRAM or PRAM on Mac:

Step 1. First, shut down your Mac and restart it after a couple of minutes.

Step 2. Immediately after restarting your Mac, simultaneously press and hold the “Option + Command + P + R” keys together.

Step 3. Keep the keys pressed for about 20 seconds and release them.

Step 4. Wait for your Mac to reboot and check if the iMovie not exporting error is resolved.

Solution 4: Check iMovie Export Settings

iMovie will occasionally refuse to export in 1080p because the H.264 codec has issues when exporting in "Best Quality". The "Best Quality" setting in iMovie tries to improve the visual quality of the exported video. However, this can occasionally push the H.264 encoder beyond its limits, especially with complicated projects or older formats. Overloading the encoder can cause the export to fail, corrupt the output, or produce a lower-than-expected resolution.

Here are the steps to check iMovie Export settings to fix the iMovie export failed issue:

Step 1. First, click on the “File” option on your iMovie and click on the “Share” option.

Step 2. Next, click on the “Export using QuickTime” option from the list.

Step 3. On the new window, click on the “Options” button and then click on the “Settings” option.

Step 4. Here, check that the codec is set to the “H.264” option and make any required adjustments for optimal encoding and quality output for your exported video.

Solution 5: Update iMovie and MacOS

Sometimes, depending on the video clip format and quality, using an older version of the iMovie application may result in export failure. To resolve the issue, update iMovie to the most recent version and address any bugs in previous versions. Similarly, your operating system may be incompatible with an earlier version of iMovie, causing the error "iMovie won't export." To keep your Mac functioning efficiently and securely, make sure it has the most recent version of the macOS software installed.

Follow the below steps to update iMovie and MacOS:

For iMovie

Step 1. Go to the “App Store” on your Mac and click on the “Updates” option on the left side.

Step 2. Check if you can see iMovie in the app list; click on the “iMovie” app and then click on the “Update” button to download and install the latest updates.

For macOS

Step 1. Click on the “Apple menu logo” on the left top corner and select the “System Preferences” option

Step 2. Next, click on the “Software Update” option and wait for the system to search for available updates for your Mac.

Step 3. If there are any latest updates available, then click on the “Update Now” option to download and install the recent updates to the Mac.

Part 3: How to Repair Videos During the iMovie Export Process

Now that you learned how to fix your “my iMovie won't export” error, what if you have corrupted videos during the export process? Thankfully, to fix this issue, you can use a reliable and effective video repair tool such as Repairit. The app provides a fast, simple, and effective way to fix video files on both Windows and Mac operating systems. Repairit has several benefits, including the ability to repair multiple corrupted films, images, and files of various sorts at the same time, with no file size limitations.

Here are some of the key features of Repairit Video Repair:

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• Repair damaged videos with all levels of corruption, such as video not playing, video no sound, out-of-sync video or audio, playback errors, header corruption, flickering video, missing video codec, etc.

• Repair full HD, 4K, and 8K videos and support 20+ popular formats, including MOV, MP4, M2TS, MDT, RSV, WMV, MPEG, DAT, etc.

• Repair damaged or corrupted videos caused by video compression, system crashes, video format changes, etc.

• Repair critically damaged or corrupted RAW/LOG/HDR videos from professional cameras such as Blackmagic Design, RED Digital, ARRI, etc.

• Repairit has a quick and advanced scanning mode. You can use either depending on the level of corruption the video file has undergone.

• No limit to the number and size of the repairable videos.

• Repaired videos are more compatible with professional editing software such as DaVinci, Composer, Final Cut Pro, and Premiere Pro.

• Support Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista, Windows Server 2003/2008/2012/2016/2019/2022, and macOS 10.12~macOS 15.

Follow the below steps to repair videos during the iMovie export failed error using the Repairit Video Repair tool:

Step 1. Click on the "Video Repair" option from the left side panel on the main screen and click on the "+ Add" button to add corrupt videos.

Step 2. Click on the “Repair” button at the bottom to start the process.

Step 3. If the repaired video is accurate, then click on the “Save” option to save it to your Mac.

Conclusion

While iMovie is a free video editing tool you have access to on your Mac, it also tends to show many errors, including iMovie not exporting. Thankfully, you can solve this error with the easy methods provided in the article. However, in the event of an error resulting in corrupt video outputs, you can use the Repairit Video Repair application to fix them effortlessly.